Becoming Owen
by TiatheTiger
Summary: This story takes place in 2007 and provides a backstory to Owen Grady (Jurassic World). It is canon to my story, Jurassic World: The New World and may not be 100% accurate to the film version. Part two of The New World will have direct references to Owen's imagined history in this story. It's 2007 and Owen Grady is a senior at Indiana University. He is juggling difficult classes,
1. Chapter 1

January 2007

A heavy hand clapped Owen on the back. "Hey, man, how was hicksville?"

Owen punched his roommate, Trevor. "I'm from Kentucky. It's hardly the deep south."

"Tell that to your accent."

Owen didn't even notice the supposed twang in his voice. He did notice the long o's of Trevor's Massachusetts accent, though. It always got stronger after break. After three semesters of living together, Owen knew to expect a dense New England accent for a few weeks at the beginning of each term. Apparently, the start of their last semester of senior year was no different.

"You're an asshole. You know that, right?"

"Whatever, man. I'm going to get some coffee."

For the sake of being the obviously better person, Owen didn't comment on the way Trevor said 'cawfee.'

"I'll come with. When did your flight get in?"

"Hour ago. Yours?"

"Two. Why did we decide to fly in the day classes started? I have my animal behavior lab at noon. I'll be dead."

Trevor shrugged. "You're the one who saved some of your worst shit for the last semester. Who takes two labs at the end of senior year? And an internship? You'll be in the library 24/7."

Owen pulled on his jacket and held open their apartment door. He and Trevor were both scholarship students, and to keep the money flowing they had to live on campus. Luckily, Indiana University offered apartment-style housing for upperclassmen. Even luckier, Owen and Trevor each had their own room in their two bedroom apartment. They shared a smaller, single-bedroom apartment junior year and nearly killed each other. Yet, they still decided to room together as seniors. Some friendships just worked.

It was a hike to get from their apartment in Bicknell to Wells, the library and the only place on campus to get decent coffee. Owen hated the taste of bean juice, but he quickly learned that if he was going to survive college, he'd have to tolerate it. Otherwise, he'd be stuck with energy drinks, and that shit screwed with his body too much. He hit the gym five days a week, but the only way to keep his muscle mass was to avoid all that sugar and other junk they hid in the cans of caffeine.

Campus was alive and well for a Monday morning. It was the first day of classes for the semester, which meant most students were on their best behavior. After a few weeks, people would realize their eight am lecture didn't actually matter that much, and campus would go back to being a Monday morning ghost town.

"Yo! Grady! Collins!"

Owen and Trevor turned to find their friend Jackson jogging toward them. He had nothing but the clothes on his back and a pencil behind his ear, the same uniform he would wear the entire semester, yet Jackson managed to kick ass in all his classes. Owen would suspect him of cheating, but they watched a few episodes of Jeopardy together, as they aired, and Jackson knew most of the answers. The dude was just crazy smart. He could probably teach every class.

"It's a beautiful day, boys." Jackson sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"

"Anxiety and cilantro?"

Jackson punched Owen's arm, though the cilantro thing was true. For some reason this one pathway on campus always smelled like the herb.

"Smells like freedom. And we're just a few months away from tasting it."

"You're mixing metaphors or some shit. Why not just say we're seniors."

"We're seniors!" Jackson screamed. He earned himself a few dirty looks from passersby. Jackson shrugged it off with his come-what-may attitude and through his arms over Owen and Trevor's shoulders. "This is it boys. We've been working up to this for four fucking years. Celebrate!"

Owen shrugged out of his friend's grip. "I'll celebrate when I have my diploma in hand."

"You know you don't get that til like a few weeks after graduation, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. I need to get through this semester before I can get excited."

Trevor had been right earlier. Owen hadn't spaced his classes out right, so he wound up with two labs, an internship, and two other difficult classes to finish up his major. While all the other seniors he knew would be coasting through bullshit geneds, Owen would be sweating his ass off in the lab twice a week, then going to the dog training center for his internship. So much for a fun senior year.

They finally reached the coffee shop and found empty seats in the back. A few girls, and guys, watched as Jackson, Trevor, and Owen walked by. Owen could look, but he would never touch. He had Samantha, a pretty redheaded psych major, to think about. She only had classes on Tuesday and Thursday, so she wasn't expected back on campus until Monday night. Owen planned on welcoming her back all night long.

Jackson and Trevor were unattached, so they did more than look. Two girls at the next table made eyes at the guys, and they made eyes right back.

"Care to join us?" Jackson said, leaning towards the shy blond. "Plenty of room. I'll even buy you a coffee."

The girl giggled. "I wish, but I'll be late to class."

"Be late."

She looked genuinely appalled. "On the first day? No way."

Owen kicked Jackson under the table. When their eyes met, Owen mouthed, "Freshman." Jackson nodded solemnly. Only a freshman would freak over the thought of missing class on the first day. If it wasn't a mandatory lab, Owen would probably skip his first class without hesitation. That was the difference between freshman and seniors.

The two girls left just as Owen, Jackson, and Trevor were called by the barista. They gathered their drinks and breakfasts, having ordered egg sandwiches to tide them over until it was actually lunch time, and went back to their table. The library cafe was emptying out as the next class period approached. They only had an hour before they had to make their way to their classes. They'd been smart in creating their schedules, ensuring that none of them had classes before noon any day of the week. Especially not on Monday.

Owen chugged down his medium coffee in a few gulps. Fast was the only way to drink the thick, bitter liquid.

Jackson cringed. "Shit's hot, man. You probably have no tissue left in your throat."

Owen opened his mouth wide for his friend to check. "Is it just bones in there? That would be sick."

Trevor rolled his eyes and took a sip of his coffee. "You guys are stupid. Why do I hang out with you?"

"Because we're the only people who will hang out with you."

"Guess I'm stuck with you."

They talked about break for an hour, finishing their food and coffees well before the stories were done. Twelve drew closer, and the guys said their goodbyes.

"See you later?" Jackson asked. "Air hockey rematch?"

Owen grinned. "I'll be with Samantha. Tomorrow night?"

"Works for me."

Jackson and Trevor had classes in the psych building, but Owen's class was across campus. He walked alone, saying hi to the other people he knew, promising to catch up. When he got to the animal behavior lab, a few students had already taken their seats. Owen took one near the middle of the room, not wanting to block anyone by sitting his over-six-foot frame in the front, but not wanting to be so far away that he couldn't hear.

The professor showed up right on time and after a five minute intro to the lab, he assigned reading and went over their first lab assignment.

The semester was going to suck like hell if Owen had work on the first day, but it would all be worth it when he could officially call himself a behaviorist. Until then, he had to stay big man on campus, and avoid drowning in homework.

Seemed easy enough in theory.

Practice, though, was a different story.


	2. Chapter 2

Owen wished the training room had couches.

Not so he could sit, but because fabric would dampen the sound of the ten barking dogs in kennels along the far wall. Each high pitched yelp bounced off the walls and into Owen's ears. He glanced around at the other interns, and none flinched. He supposed he would either get used to the barking, or he'd go deaf. Either would be fine with him at that point.

"Welcome!" a young woman called from behind a short table. Her smile filled her face. "You must be the new intern from Indiana U. We're glad to have you on board!"

Owen closed the gap between them and held out his hand to shake. "Owen Grady."

"Tessa McCugh," she said. "I'm the president of this branch. It's nice to meet you."

The university set Owen up with an internship in his field of study: animal behavior. All of the kenneled dogs were up for adoption at the humane society, and he and the other interns would work with them on basic training. A dog who could sit was more easily placed than one who couldn't.

Tessa gathered the eight other interns into a circle. "Most of you are familiar with how this works, but we do have a newcomer. Everyone welcome Owen Grady to the team!"

The interns waved and nodded in his direction. They all seemed to be his age or younger. A couple looked like they might still be in high school. He'd read on his welcome packet that you had to be at least eighteen, so they were probably seniors who needed community service credit to graduate. Each week they worked with a new set of dogs, so at least Owen wouldn't be too far behind. He'd watched enough dog training videos to have a basic idea of how it worked. This should be a breeze.

"Each of you will be working with one dog for the next two hours. I have treat pouches and treats for each of you, and we'll start off as a group, but you will be working pretty much one on one with the dogs as they get the hang of each basic command. We're working on sit, lay down, paw, and stay today. These tricks tend to catch potential pet owners' interests when they see the dogs. It's a way for them to show off a bit and hopefully get adopted."

Tessa gave each of the interns a card with a name on it. Owen's read, "Oscar." He found the kennel with a matching name and stared down at his buddy for the night. Oscar was a white pit bull. The dog sat with his mouth wide open in an excited smile.

Following the lead of the other interns, Owen opened the kennel and attached a leash to Oscar's collar. To his surprise, the dog didn't try to run or pull away. He stared up at Owen with expecting eyes.

"Oscar was brought to us after his owner was killed. He's intimidating, being a pit, but he's the sweetest boy. I have no doubt he'll get adopted. In fact, he has three applications outstanding already."

"Then why is he here? Doesn't sound like he needs to show off at all."

"A pit bull who can sit, stay, and lay down will be adopted. One that is too excited won't. The applications are in, but he hasn't had any visits just yet. We want to be sure he's ready."

"He will be," Owen promised. He led Oscar over to a quiet area in the room. The interns were spread out, far enough away to keep the dogs calm, but close enough to hear Tessa's instructions.

"First, we're going to teach the dogs to sit. This is a simple command and most won't have any trouble. Use this hand motion," Tessa said, gesturing with her palm facing upward. Owen had seen this command a million times. "And also a verbal command. You may need to lure the dogs into a sit the first few times using a treat like this." She demonstrated with her shelter dog, a small shepherd. She held a treat to the dog's nose and lifted it up. The dog tried to jump for it, but she pulled the treat away and repeated the motion until it sat. She rewarded him with the piece of hot dog.

"Got it?"

Everyone murmured yes, and they got to work. Oscar was already sitting, so Owen had to coax him out of the position only to get him back into it.

"Sit."

Oscar obeyed immediately. It looked like his previous owner had already taught him this trick. Owen glanced around the room and saw that almost all of the dogs were already familiar with the 'sit' command. That made sense; a lot of the dogs were abandoned, but for the most part, dogs are taught to at least 'sit' by their owners.

After ten minutes of sitting, Tessa called the group back together and went over how to teach down. Oscar nailed that command, too. They had twenty minutes to learn this one before Tessa started them on 'stay.'

This one was a lot harder for Oscar. He saw the hot dog on the ground and figured it was there for him to clean up. It took the first fifteen of their allotted thirty minutes to get a single repetition, but after that, Oscar had it down.

"Good boy!" Owen said after five good 'stays' in a row. He petted the sweet dog, whose tail wagged excitedly from the touch.

"You're a natural."

Owen jumped. Tessa left her shelter dog with a younger woman at the front of the room. She'd shown up between lay down and stay, and Tessa introduced her as her apprentice, Emma. The help allowed Tessa to wander around checking on her other students.

"Oscar is the natural."

Tessa smiled. "You know, Emma's apprenticeship is over next week and I'm on the lookout for another. Is that something you'd be interested in?"

Owen's eyes widened. "Absolutely, but I'm not sure I have time. Between this internship and all my school work…"

Tessa stopped him. "We can give you internship credit for the apprenticeship. I'll talk with your adviser, he's an old friend of mine. If you're interested, I can work it out."

"I am very interested. Thank you so much, Tessa."

She left to finish her rounds and Owen's head spun. He knew he would need an apprenticeship to get more hands on animal behavior learning, but he never imagined one would land on his lap. He thought he'd have to work over the summer to get one. He couldn't wait to tell his dad.

"Okay, class, let's take a break and let the dogs socialize. Keep an eye on them and break up any fights. They usually spend time together outside, so we know they all get along, but you never know what might happen."

Owen unleashed Oscar and the dog bounded over to the shepherd Tessa had been working with. The two smiled at each other and ran around the room like best friends. Watching them, Owen hoped a miracle would happen, and the boys would be adopted out together. If he weren't living in a dorm room, Owen would adopt them himself.

After a thirty minute playtime, the dogs were leashed back up and they went through one last command: paw. This was Owen's favorite, because it was more fun than practical. Oscar seemed to like it, too. He got it after a few repetitions.

Tessa called for the class to put their dogs back in the kennels. Owen kissed Oscar's head and walked away, but it was hard. He wanted nothing more than to give the sweet boy a home. All he could hope for was that one of those applications worked out.

"That was a great class everyone. Thank you for all your help, and I look forward to seeing you all next week. Leave your snack pouches with Emma. Have a great night!"

Emma took Owen's snack pouch with a scowl. "You won't last a week as an apprentice."

He laughed. "You're right, I'll last the full four months."

Emma scoffed. "Good luck."

"Thanks!"

Owen didn't look back when he exited the building. Instructors never kept apprentices longer than their term, so it's not like he was taking her job or anything. He had no idea what Emma's issue was, but he wouldn't worry about it. Dog training wasn't his specific goal, but it would get him to where he needed to be. Working with other animal behaviorists to explore how animals work and what they can be trained to do was his dream. If he had to last four months training shelter dogs to get there, he would do so happily.

When he got back to his dorm room, Owen was exhausted, but he called his girlfriend, Samantha, anyway.

"Hey, Sammy," he said.

"Hey, tiger. You sound tired."

He yawned. "Long day. What are you up to?"

"Ugh, homework. You?"

"Just got done with my internship. You still want to hang tonight?"

Samantha sighed. "I'm sorry, can I take a rain check? I wasn't expecting to get any actual work today but I ended up with two different assignments and I'm working tomorrow so I won't have any time to get them done."

"That's fine, I get it. I miss you though."

Owen could hear the smile in his girlfriend's voice. "I miss you, too. Are we still on for Saturday?"

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll let you get your work done. Talk tomorrow?"

"Sure. Night, Owen."

"Night, Sammy."

After he hung up, he went through his usual night routine before jumping onto his barely-long-enough dorm bed. It took less than five minutes for him to be out like a light.


End file.
